Inspiration
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Learning From Failure With Suneel Gupta
In 2014, the New York Times ran an image of Suneel Gupta within the article “Wearing Your Failures on Your Sleeve.”
Gupta commenced his keynote presentation on Day Two of the 2024 ISPA Conference by displaying the newspaper clipping, joking that he was literally the face of failure. “Everybody fails,” he said, “but long-term success comes from short-term embarrassment. So I decided to email this article to everyone I could.”
Level Up Your Management Game with Dr. Bryan K. Williams
ISPA members are already familiar with Dr. Bryan K. Williams, a sought-after speaker known for his dynamic presentations at past Conferences and Town Halls. A recognized authority on leadership and service excellence, Williams brings his passion for helping others thrive to the spa industry through the Manager Skills Workshop, now available on iLearn for an ISPA member-exclusive price.
Leveling Up With Ryan Leak
“There’s levels to this thing,” Ryan Leak told Power Session attendees on the first day of the 2024 ISPA Conference. “You feel in shape until you go the gym. You think you have a nice house until you visit a rich friend. There are levels to leadership—we’ve discovered this through national research studies. You have to equip people with the right tools and right questions to be asking themselves to get to the next level.”
Lucas Irwin: Mindful Meditation
With more than 20 years in the health and well[1]ness industry, Lucas Irwin has committed his professional career to helping others live healthier and happier lives. Lucas will open the Power Session with a mindfulness meditation, guiding attendees to begin the session with a moment of total well-being, health and happiness.
Pulse: Spa leaders know the value of comprehensive wellness but we don’t always practice it for ourselves. What is a good first step?
Lucas Irwin: It is incredibly common within health and wellness industries for the providers to neglect their own care, in an effort to better serve their clients and customers. It is easy to overlook the obvious fault in that pattern; a diminished version of ourselves cannot provide optimal service and care. Whereas, the healthiest, happiest version of ourselves can deliver the highest iteration of service, care and connection.
We all have places in our lives that we can improve or adjust for the better. I always recommend that you start with one small thing, something that you can undoubtably stick to that will also make a noticeable difference. A few of the countless examples could be to meditate for two minutes every morning, to read before bed instead of scrolling social media, stop or reduce soda intake, or go for a 15-minute walk three days per week. The important thing here is we aren’t trying to change our entire life overnight; but we are beginning to build a foundation and some momentum that we can slowly and steadily build upon.
Meditation Goes Mainstream
Meditation and Mindfulness are more popular than ever. But what’s driving the change, and what can your spa do to make the most of it?
Earlier this year, an interesting press release found its way onto my desk, courtesy of toy manufacturer Mattel. It announced the launch of the Barbie Wellness Collection, featuring Barbies that teach “three key themes: meditation, physical well-being, and self-care.”
Mindset Reset for Transformational Leadership
Never has consistent, collaborative and communicative leadership been more needed. The landscape of even a few months ago has changed, and the guidebooks of last year are out. Stepping into their place is an extraordinary opportunity to create a new leadership model, one built upon a foundation of innovation, empathy, trust and collaboration.
Nature Inspired Design: Basalt Day Spa
Set in Salt Lake City, Utah, basalt day spa is the embodiment of two therapists’ harmonious vision of nature-inspired design and modern wellness practices. Co-owners Amber DeVoge and Jasmine Percy have succeeded in creating a sanctuary where every detail is considered, ensuring each visit to Basalt Spa is nothing short of extraordinary. Spanning 2,000 square feet, this tranquil retreat was established in 2015 and expanded in 2021 to include a 375-square foot retail space that is as inviting as it is unique.
Neil Pasricha: Intentional Living & Building Trust
Great Work ➞ Big Success ➞ Be Happy Does that equation look right? Neil Pasricha finds most of us have grown up with that lesson instilled in us: If you do great work and achieve big success, it leads to happiness.
“This model is fundamentally reversed,” he claimed to the ISPA Conference audience. “It turns out, to be our best selves we need to put happiness at the beginning of the equation.”
Be Happy ➞ Great Work ➞ Big Success
“Happy people live longer. The average lifespan in this country right now is 30,000 days. We know from research that if you cultivate happiness, you get 3,000 extra days.” For Neil, the pursuit of happiness all started with a “rock bottom” period of his life. Within a three-day period, his wife told him she did not want to be married any longer, and his best friend took his own life. To cope, Neil began trying to focus on one good thought every day, eventually recording his ideas on a blog called 1,000 Awesome Things. Over the past decade since he began to catalog “awesome things,” Neil has researched happiness. “We’re awake 1,000 minutes per day,” he said. Happiness can start by committing to use two of those minutes to self focus. He suggests doing just one of the following routines every day.
Noella Gabriel: A Spa Visionary’s Journey of Well-being and Innovation
Noella Gabriel recalls how her upbringing in a musical family inspired curiosity about the function of breath to a singer, along with its relationship to skin, emotional and overall wellness. Gabriel followed her passion for how the body works in a series of professional pursuits.
“I founded Acorn Health Food Shop in County Cork with my sister and was able to work closely with customers on the benefits of nutrition and the science behind it,” she shares. “My love for holistic therapy took me to New York in my early 20s, where I qualified as a beauty therapist in shiatsu, reflexology and aromatherapy— which, back then, was considered a bit eccentric! From then on, I fell in love with the world of touch, aromatics and well-being—and, of course, skin as my first love. My idea of heaven was being in the treatment room with one client for two to three hours, just to be able to take that client on a whole new journey.”
Personalizing Your Retail Space to Captivate Consumers
“People don’t care what you do, they care why you do it.” Using that philosophy from Simon Sinek, this panel of experts from Trilogy Spa Holdings shared important tips to help spas make their retail spaces more personal and meaningful and to create curiosity with their displays.
“Every spa should have a ‘hot spot’ when you first walk in—an area that demands your attention, makes you stop and find out more,” Ingrid Middaugh advised. She also shared the value of knowing your competition. Her location in Vail, Colorado, is within a block of hundreds of shops in a major shopping area. “I go to every one of the spas in my area to see what they’re selling. I look at what’s on sale—what’s not selling for them—so I’m not going to carry them because they’re not working,” Ingrid said. “We have to keep our focus on What is wellness? and What is the theme of our spa?